“Send a dispatch to Vienna. The rebellion in Liege has been suppressed,” General Wilmze lifted his hand wearily toward his staff. “His Imperial Majesty must be getting impatient.”
He then looked toward the Austrian soldiers who were lining up to enter the City of Liege, “The two battalions that led the main attack today will stay behind to rest; everyone else departs immediately. We must reach Varegem by tomorrow afternoon.”
Varegem was the necessary route to Southern Brabant, located over 40 kilometers away[注1].
After entering the Province of Liege six days earlier, the Austrian Army, constantly harassed by the rebels, finally captured the city, achieving their first major victory since the war began.
But General Wilmze couldn’t feel pleased at all – this was much slower than he had expected. By now, the Prussian Army had probably already reached the vicinity of Brussels.
In other words, his plan to besiege the Brabant Rebels and ambush the Prussians could no longer be carried out.
Moreover, in today’s fight against the rebels of Liege, he still hadn’t managed to annihilate the main rebel force – about 3,000 rebels decisively abandoned the city, fleeing toward Varegem, and those he killed or captured in Liege were fewer than 800.
In addition, the situation in Luneburg was also very grim – three days after losing contact with Muzil’s troops, he sensed something was wrong and sent a cavalry troop north to investigate. The cavalry returned yesterday, reporting that Muzil had not yet captured Luneburg.
General Wilmze buoyed his spirits. As long as he could defeat the Prussians in Brabant, all this would amount to nothing.
He took the reins from his attendant, about to mount his horse but then suddenly frowned upon seeing a scout cavalry galloping toward him.
Because the cavalryman was coming from the south, while the enemy was supposed to be in the north.
Twenty meters away, the scout spotted the commander and immediately shouted, “Urgent military intelligence! Rochefort has spotted the rebels, at least 5,000 strong!”
General Wilmze’s pupils dilated sharply. How had those rebels ended up in the south?
Rochefort was only a two-day journey from Luxembourg, and Luxembourg was a vital route for resupplying from both Austria and France.
If Luxembourg were attacked by the rebels, his own logistics would immediately face problems.
Anxiously, he looked toward Brabant, hesitated repeatedly, but in the end, he sighed heavily and said to the orderly officer, “Assemble the whole army, march toward Rochefort. Oh, tell Colonel Muzil to give up on Luneburg and head to Varegem immediately, to prevent the rebels from slipping back into Brabant.”
“Yes, General!”
While the Austrian Army grumbled about heading southward, outside the City of Namur, not far to the northwest of Rochefort, the Duke of Brunswick, the overall commander of the Prussian troops, was galloping past the endless lines of his forces, waving his hand and calling out, “Move those damned legs of yours! If we reach Rochefort by tomorrow, the glory of victory is yours!”
As an elder over seventy years old, he was indeed vigorous for his age.
He had been riding hard for nearly twenty minutes by then, continuously calling out to boost morale. Finally, both he and his horse, having exhausted their strength, stopped to catch their breath.
The Marquis of Blucher rode up from behind and handed a water flask to the Duke, “Marshal, have some water. We just got a message from Rochefort – those Dutch have prepared well, totaling more than 12,000 men.”
The latter looked up and took several large gulps of water, a smile flickering at the corner of his mouth, “Where did that lawyer Vandernoot get so many people from?”
“The Dutch sent 200,000 gold shields and quite a few weapons. The people of the Netherlands were quick to arm a large number of citizens.” Find your next read at empire
The 200,000 Dutch shields were equivalent to 2.5 million livres, which clearly showed the Dutch’s strong support for their fellow Dutchmen in the Netherlands.
Marquis of Blucher hesitated and then spoke again, “Marshal, are we really not in danger if we give up on Brabant? The Austrians are only three days away from there.”
The Duke of Brunswick flicked his horse’s reins and said indifferently, “That old man Wilmze would never take risks; even if there isn’t a single soldier in Brabant, he would not give up Luxembourg to attack it.”
Two days later, the Austrian Army arrived in the suburbs of Rochefort. Subsequently, General Wilmze received a scout report that at least twenty thousand men of the Prussian Army and over ten thousand Dutch rebels were spotted to the southeast.
General Wilmze immediately tensed, as the speed of the Prussian’s march far exceeded his expectations. He had thought he would only face the rebels, but now he had to face a decisive battle here.
Fortunately, his years of experience in commanding large armies meant he did not neglect scouting and thus avoided the embarrassment of an ambush.
He immediately took out his map and pointed to a flat and open area to the front side, and said in a deep voice to his staff officer, “Deploy the troops here immediately. Have Winkler and his skirmishing battalion set up an outpost first, and be careful of Prussian attacks.”
“Yes, General!”
However, as the Austrians began to form up at the position designated by Wilmze, 15 cannons suddenly appeared at the forefront of the Prussian Army, launching a fierce bombardment on the Austrian forces.
The Winkler Battalion, an elite unit of the Austrian Army, endured the artillery fire and held their ground at the forefront of the open area. Inspired by their stand, the line infantry behind them quickly formed into columns, out of the range of the enemy’s cannons.
The Prussian cannons fired a full 30 rounds, but since the skirmishers led by Winkler were spread out, they only killed a little over two hundred men while the Prussian vanguard, under threat from the Austrian skirmishers, could not directly assault the main Austrian forces.
General Wilmze finally waited until his main forces were completely deployed and immediately ordered the artillery to return fire—Winkler’s battalion was his trump card, and the death of each man pained him deeply.
After a round of exchange of fire, Wilmze finally noticed through his telescope that the Prussian position in front seemed to be formed by Dutch rebels in line formation.
He was immediately overjoyed; the Duke of Brunswick had actually made such a rudimentary mistake—using such an untrained amateur force for the most crucial front of the battlefield. If they were broken through, it would lead to the collapse of the entire Prussian Army!
Determinedly, Wilmze said to the orderly officer, “Order Schulder to immediately launch a strong attack on the enemy’s line formation! Have Berg’s grenadiers also press forward, and the cavalry must protect the flanks.”
“Yes, General!”
[Note 1]In the 18th century, the Southern Netherlands, later known as Belgium’s Brabant region, was divided into two large areas, North and South Brabant. North Brabant included Brussels and had a slightly larger area, belonging to the Dutch-speaking region. South Brabant was smaller and belonged to the French-speaking region. Together, North and South Brabant formed the most prosperous core area of the Southern Netherlands.